Vulpix Tale 1: Growlithe Tale
by BraviaryGirl7
Summary: When a warm-hearted Growlithe rescues a sweet but highly anxious Vulpix, he slowly finds his life changing majorly; though he wouldn't have it any other way. But will he be willing to put himself in danger to protect his new friend from a dangerous outlaw, just to help her get back home? -Rated T for slight blood and trigger warnings in later chapters. First in a series of six.-
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: The Change**

 **Emerald Town, Dog House, 7:30 A.M. (Flint's POV)**

As I started waking up, I opened my eyes a tiny bit, shifted around in my straw bed, then relaxed back down, closing my eyes with a sleepy yawn. I couldn't feel the warmth of the sun yet, so I couldn't summon the energy to drag myself out of bed. As a Growlithe, it was always hard for me to get out of bed at all in winter.

"Hey, Flint, wake up," a distant voice called to me. Half-drifting back into dreamland, I vaguely felt something prodding at my side, my weary mind almost interpreting it as an enemy trying to punch me in the gut. With an impatient groan, I rolled over onto my other side, flicking my tail in the direction of the unknown source of my rest interference. I barely heard someone give a frustrated sigh. "Flint, _get up_ ," the voice tried again, clearer this time. I could now recognize the owner of this nagging voice.

"It's too early, Dusk," I tried my best to say clearly through a yawn. "Go back to sleep."

"Then you leave me no choice," I heard Dusk sigh. I wondered for a second what he was about to do, but couldn't muster the energy to worry too much about it.

* _CHOMP!_ *

"GAAAH!" I shouted in surprise and shot up out of my bed and onto the wooden floor like a bullet after I felt a sharp pain through my tail. My heart racing like a Rapidash, my head whipped in the direction that the rude awakening had most likely come from. Sitting on his hind legs, wearing an arrogant and very annoying grin on his face, was a Poochyena with a tuft of messy, scruffy fur on his head. Calming down from the shock, I frowned and narrowed my eyes at my best friend.

"Good, you're up," Dusk chuckled smugly.

"What the heck was that for?!" I demanded, baring my teeth as I got right in his face.

"Hey, that was the only way I could get you up," Dusk defended, his grin turning into a wide one as he revealed his fangs as well. "But it was fun."

"You _know_ not to mess with my tail," I reminded him through gritted teeth. As a Growlithe, my fur condition is kinda important to me. We're born and raised feeling a bit of pride in our fur, and in our fire power.

"Oh, sorry, I forgot how _sensitive_ your tail is," Dusk chided, putting annoying emphasis on 'sensitive'. I frowned harder and started growling at him. Seeing this as a challenge, he glared at me right in the eyes. "Well, little pup?"

"Don't call me a pup," I growled firmly. _And I'm a year older than you!_ I thought to myself, annoyed literally to a near boiling point. "Scruff mutt."

"Oh, you wanna go, tough guy?" Dusk snarled confidently with his hackles raised, replacing his grin with a huge sneer.

"Break it up," a stern voice commanded. The two of us broke our stare to see who was talking. Sitting in a strong, confident posture in front of the closed door of our home—aptly named by the other villagers the 'Dog House'—was Sarge, our other best friend. Sarge was always a stickler of a Houndour and always carried himself in an authoritative manner. The fact that Sarge never had a problem waking up early, even on a chilly morning, never ceased to amaze me.

"Hey, not my fault the little puppy isn't a morning Pokémon," Dusk scoffed, trying and failing to pat down the tuft of fur on his head.

"What?! How can you expect me to be a morning Pokémon with the way you wake me up?! And don't call me a puppy!" I snapped back, digging my claws into the floor firmly to show I wasn't about to back down, and baring my teeth again, to which Dusk responded by baring his own and growling. He dug his own claws into the ground, crouching ever so slightly into a warning stance.

"You wanna piece of me, pal?!" he snarled assertively, glaring at me with piercing eyes. I could tell he was trying to use Leer, prompting me to Leer right back at him, which nearly turned into a staring contest that could have possibly gone on for hours.

" _Enough_ ," Sarge barked. Dusk and I flinched at the serious tone in his voice as we nervously returned our attention to him, guilty expressions on both of our faces. Cleary fed up with our shenanigans, he stared both of us right in the eyes with his own Leer attack. His signature stern gaze combined with the crystal clear annoyance in his attitude and his always intimidating appearance—what with the fangs always visible even when his mouth closed, and the skull shape on his forehead—was more than enough to snap Dusk and I out of our instinctual competitiveness. In less than a second, our instincts switched from dominant to obedient as we immediately sat on our hind legs and stood at attention. "If you two have to spend your energy squabbling, you can use it to wake yourselves up on the training grounds, _later_." Sarge glared at us firmly, making it clear that he didn't want us getting into a tussle like immature hatchlings. And I'll admit, the two of us always were pretty crazy. With a nervous gulp, I loosened my grip into the floor, and for good measure, rubbed my paw hastily against the wooden planks to try and smooth out the tiny grooves I poked into them.

"Fine," Dusk and I responded together, not wanting to argue with Sarge.

"Good," Sarge nodded, satisfied. Getting up and turning around to push open the wooden door, he added, "Come on, we can't be late." I felt a small, instinctive shiver course briefly through my body the moment the door swung open. Seconds later, I could feel the brisk chill of the icy winter winds causing my shuddering. Of course, Dusk wasn't shivering. For a moment, I felt a tinge of jealousy for his basically built in cold proof insulation; he had more fur than me, longer fur than me, _fluffier_ fur than me, and to top it all off, his fur was _black_. Not to mention, he wasn't a fire type! His body temperature was technically 'normal', as opposed to my own, which was about the same as a hot meal. As a result, Dusk could resist the cold much more easily than me. I mentally growled at these thoughts, the irritation raising my temp up even further, and making the cold even worse.

"Right behind ya!" Dusk called as he trotted outside after Sarge, his annoying smile back on his face. Shaking my head a little to try and get my annoyance out of my head, I followed along behind Dusk. As I walked out the door, I was quickly calming myself down, and bracing myself a little better for the impending ice-coldness outside, when I suddenly lost my footing after tripping over something, and face-planted right into a small snow pile.

"AAH, COLD!" I shouted frantically, leaping up on my feet as fast as a Politoed. Shaking rapidly to get the freezing slush out of my fur, the adrenaline from my earlier annoyance came rushing back as I got a pretty good idea of what had happened. I heard an annoyingly familiar snicker behind me, and when I whipped my head around to see who it was coming from, my suspicions were confirmed when I saw Dusk standing right next to the still open door with his back left leg outstretched in front of it. He wore a mocking grin on his face, everything about his appearance confirming that he had tripped me. Growling under my breath, I immediately turned my body around and ran towards him, preparing to lunge at him as I raised my paws. "Why you—!"

" _Ahem!_ " an abrupt cough interrupted me. My attention instantly hooked onto the source of the noise, I saw that up ahead, Sarge had stopped in his tracks and glared at the two of us sternly and wordlessly over his shoulder. Almost impossibly fast, I lowered myself back on all fours and put a sheepish smile on my face, Dusk doing the same. Ears drooping a little, Sarge let out a little sigh. "Please, can you two at least _try_ to stifle your… exuberance until after we receive our assignment?" he asked tiredly, pausing a little before the word 'exuberance', most likely because he was thinking over his words carefully.

"Sorry, buddy," Dusk and I apologized guiltily, our ears drooping along with Sarge's. We shared a brief glance, silently agreeing not to grate on Sarge's nerves any longer. As fun as it was to fight with each other, there was a point where fun is easily outranked by the job that kept the three of us fed every day.

"Thank you," Sarge sighed in slight relief, giving a nod and a small smile, hearing the guilt in our tones. "Now, let's go, or we'll be late." With that, he resumed walking, finally getting within ten feet away from the house.

"You got it, hot-shot!" Dusk called as he ran a little to catch up with Sarge, then slowed down to regular walking speed once they were side by side.

"Coming!" I called as I did the same. Though I was shivering cold, I decided I wasn't about to let that slow me down, or stop me from doing my best that day along with my two best friends. Still, I always had to wonder how Sarge never seemed bothered by the weather. I made a mental note to ask him about it later. The three of us picked up the pace a little, as we had to make sure we could get to the large dome building on the other side of town in time.

…

 **A. A. Center, 8:00 A.M.**

Ah, the good old Aid Aliment Center, or A. A. Center for short. A full service organization dedicated to helping the Pokémon of the town in any way that they need. Sarge, Dusk and I had started working there as unofficial employees back last spring, for two different reasons. The first reason being that ever since discovering the work these Pokémon do every day, Dusk and Sarge had made it their life's dreams to work in the Aliment. The second reason being that it was the only way the three of us were affording to eat and sleep with a roof over our heads.

"Ah, there you three are," the front desk receptionist, a Farfetch'd named Farfel, greeted us as we practically stumbled through the front door of the Aid Aliment Center, each of us panting slightly from running the last bit of the way there.

"I'm so sorry; are we late?" Sarge managed to respectfully apologize and ask though being as out of breath as Dusk and me.

"No, you've made it just under the wire, so to speak," Farfel shook his head, though upon a second glance, he wasn't even looking at us. With a pencil held in his wing rather than a usual leek that a Farfetch'd carries, he was busily sorting through a slightly lopsided pile of papers on his desk. But he had known us long enough to know what our voices sounded like, so he didn't have to look up to see it was us. Farfel was always very friendly, but such a hard worker that he never felt he had time to waste with chit-chat. Luckily, he was also very efficient. With a swift flick of his pencil, he pushed a rolled up piece of paper off the desk towards us, which Sarge held still with his paw and unrolled to read. "Here's your assignment for today. Supervisor Abo will be in the back room with the supplies." While Dusk was near the door shaking off the snow he had gotten covered in, being careful not to shake it inside, I came up to Sarge's side to see the assignment. The parchment read, 'Market Delivery: Due to the recent snowstorms, the path into town from the other nearby settlements has been blocked by an avalanche. As a result, the Rhyhorn Delivery System has been delayed, virtually cutting off our access to trade resources. Without it, our markets will run out of food before the next shipment can get through. Thankfully, some kind bird Pokémon from the capitol city were generous enough to bring in as much as the city can spare in via the airway. The supplies are in differently colored crates, each color to distinguish between which market the crate is to go to. Deliver the crates to each market before the end of the day.'

"Thank you," Sarge thanked Farfel with a nod before picking up the parchment in his mouth and making his way around the desk towards the entrance to the back room. Dusk, who had finally finished shaking the snow out of his fur, followed quickly after Sarge. I could vaguely hear Dusk asking what the job was, as he had been too busy shaking off snow to read the paper, to which Sarge responded by letting the paper unroll and showing it to Dusk as the two of them kept walking. Mentally psyching myself up for the assignment, I quick-walked after them, being careful not to run into any busy Pokémon traversing the main room.

"Good luck," Farfel called from behind me, raising his voice over the sound of rustling papers and Pokémon footsteps. Without stopping or turning around, I smiled at his never-ending politeness.

"Thanks, Farfel," I called back before sprinting to catch up to my friends. As I walked by their side, I saw Dusk had finished reading the assignment, and just in time. Sarge pushed open the door in front of us, opening up the entrance to the back room. As we went in, the first thing I could see was the three red, blue, and green crates. The second thing I could see was a Grotle, whose name I believed was Grover, pushing each crate onto a large sled. And the final thing I saw was Supervisor Abo himself, standing next to the crates and looking at us with his usual large, happy grin on his face.

"We-e-ell, good morning, you three," the Ambipom chuckled, arms crossed as he twiddled his twin tails. Grover appeared beside Abo after he finished shoving the last crate onto a sled. "Ha-ha, thank you, Grover. You may go." Giving a nod and a quiet grunt, Grover slowly started lumbering out of the room and back to what I assumed was his regular job. He gave us a small smile as he passed by us, but didn't say anything. From what I understood, he had always been the strong, silent type, meaning he was always reliable for heavy lifting.

"So, we just have to take these crates to the merchants?" Dusk spoke up, making sure he understood.

"Ha-ha-ha, that's right," Abo nodded with a happy laugh. I couldn't help but smile around him. His ever-present good mood always seemed to be contagious. My smile was replaced with a startled frown, however, when a Diglett popped up out of the ground right in front of me. Not only can you not hear them coming in because they don't have to open any doors, but they seem to feel the need to pop up wherever you least expect it.

"Sir, your team is waiting for you!" the Diglett—I think his name was Devan?—squeaked out to Abo quickly before burrowing back underground and out of the room just as quickly as he had come in.

"Oh-ho-okay, then," Abo laughed. To us, he added, "We-ell, sounds like I'm needed! Those outlaws won't turn themselves in, you know! I-hi think you three can handle yourselves from here; ha-all you need to know is that each crate is the same color as the merchant waiting for it, ha-alright?" With that, he started bounding away, using his tails more than his legs. "Do us proud, you three-hee-hee!"

"Yes, sir!" Sarge called out, though it was hard to tell whether or not Abo had heard him. Wasting no time, Sarge carefully looked over the crates, making a face of deep concentration as he considered what to do. After a moment, he hooked himself up to the sled with the green crate. "Alright. You two, come here."

"What do you want us to do?" Dusk asked as he and I approached the remaining sleds.

"Here's what I think," Sarge began. "I'll take the green crate; this one is intended for the Kecleon Market, which is the furthest one from here. I'm the most used to walking long distances. Dusk, you can take the one with the blue crate; the one for the Nidorina Market. It's a fair distance away from here, but you're better insulated for being outside in the cold longer. And Flint, the red crate is to be delivered to the Charmeleon Market. It won't take you too long to get there, so you shouldn't have much trouble at all. Got it?"

"I got it," Dusk answered after hooking himself up to his sled, tugging tightly on the harness to make sure it wasn't going to fall off.

"You can count on me," I added on while hooking myself up to my own sled.

"Alright," Sarge nodded. "We'll meet back here when we're all done. Understood?" Dusk and I nodded, and Sarge smiled. "Then let's get started."

…

 **Charmeleon Market, 9:30 A.M.**

"Ahh, cold, cold, cold, _cooolld_!" I couldn't stop myself from complaining as I tried ridiculously hard to make my footsteps quick and light so I wouldn't have to feel the freezing snow under my feet for much longer. I was relieved beyond belief when I caught sight of the large, red tent that made up the Charmeleon Market. The Market's owner, as the name implied, was a Charmeleon, a fire type much like myself, so he made it a point to always keep his workplace warm enough for him to keep it open even in the winter. "Cold feet, cold feet, cold feet!" I had long been able to ignore the lugging weight on my back in my scramble to get to the warm Market. Once I had dragged myself and the sled under the tent, I let out several brief pants of relief to be temporarily out of the cold, taking great comfort from the warmth that the torches on either side of the tent. Shaking the remaining snow out of my fur, I carted the sled in front of the counter. For a moment, it appeared that the shop owner wasn't there, but after a second glance, I could see a red, flaming tail sticking up from behind the counter, wagging a little.

"Not over here… Not over there…" he muttered to himself, seemingly searching for something under the counter. "Now, where did you go?"

"Hey, Chuck?" I spoke up and tapped on the counter top a little, getting the feeling that if I didn't get his attention, I would be waiting there for quite a while.

* _Thunk!_ *

"Ow!" Chuck winced after bumping his head. Standing back up and rubbing a clawed hand across the top of his head, he finally noticed I was there. "Oh, Flint. I'm sorry; I didn't hear you come in." Forgetting his small injury, he put a smile on his face, as he was usually glad to see me. "I was just looking for the rest of the food that was left." He look down a bit sadly. "But because the next shipment from the Rhyhorn has been delayed, I'm practically sold out. I'm sorry, but if you came to do some shopping, I can't do anything to help you." I stifled a small laugh. As nice as Chuck was, he wasn't the most attentive guy.

"Relax, Chuck; I gotcha covered," I informed him as I unfastened my harness and pushed the crate off the sled and against the counter. Chuck perked up immediately, his smile back on his face.

"Oh, bless the Aid Aliment!" he practically shouted, eagerly pulling the large crate over to his side of the counter. "Thank you, Flint!"

"Don't mention it, Chuck," I attempted to calm him down before he got too excited. For a few moments, I watched in amusement as he practically tore the crate open and hastily began grabbing fruits and drinks into his arms and rushing to the shelves in the back to place each item in its right spot. For a moment, he stopped in his tracks, put the rest of the stuff he was holding away, and reached for something behind a shelf.

"Oh, there's the stuff I was looking for!" Chuck exclaimed. At this point, I assumed he was talking to himself again, so I decided I should probably start heading back to the A. A. Center. As I turned around, however, Chuck called, "Flint, hold up!" Confused, I turned back around to see Chuck back at the counter holding up a small sack.

"What is it?" I asked as I walked back up to the counter, concerned that maybe something was wrong.

"Here, take this," Chuck offered, pushing the sack towards the edge of the counter. "It's the food and drinks that were left from the last shipment that made it here. Since you've brought in the new shipment, I won't need them."

"I-I…" I stuttered, taken aback. "N-no, I'm sorry, but I can't pay for that. I don't have any money on me right now."

"You don't have to pay," Chuck shook his head. "Just take it, as a reward, okay?"

"Oh, okay," I sighed, putting on a grateful smile. "Thanks, Chuck." Taking the sack in my mouth, I started pushing the sled back outside, finally getting on my way.

…

 **Dog House, 6:00 P.M.**

"Oh, man, how long is Sarge gonna take?" Dusk yawned, lazing in his bed as the two of us waited for Sarge to return from the Market. The three of us had all finished our deliveries without any problems, and had met up back at the A. A. Center as we had agreed. Once we received our payment—just enough to buy enough food for the three of us, as usual—Sarge told us to go on home while he did the shopping, as the two of us were both rather tired out, and not to mention freezing from slogging through the snow all day. Normally, it only took three hours, tops, for Sarge to finish shopping, because he went to whichever Market was closest to our current location. However, apparently Kecleon's Market had been having a sale that day, so Sarge decided to make the most of it. Unfortunately, the Kecleon Market was literally on the other side of town from the A. A. Center and from our house, so not only was it a two-hour trek _to_ the market, but the same lengthy walk back home.

"I dunno, it's a long way back," I shrugged as I lay in front of the door, as bored as Dusk was. I was getting pretty hungry, but I wasn't about to go and eat the stuff in the sack that Chuck had given me just yet. I had stuffed the sack under my bed, deciding to save it for when it was needed. Getting up, I stretched a little. "You know what? I'm gonna go take a little walk. If Sarge gets back before me, just tell him I went down by the riverbed, okay?"

I heard Dusk give a little snort, notifying me that he understood. With that, I pushed the door open, bracing myself once again for the freezing, icy winds outside. Don't get me wrong; I wasn't eager to go back out in the cold, but I was going to go out of my mind without anything to do for any longer. Plus, I had never gotten the chance to ask Sarge how he managed to resist the cold for so long. I was admittedly jealous of his endurance, so I figured it couldn't hurt to see how long I could actually last out there in the cold.

"Be careful not to fall in and drown," Dusk called jokingly before I closed the door behind me.

"Ha-ha," I laughed sarcastically to myself. Briefly, I was still and unmoving as I tried hard to adjust myself to the shiver-inducing slush. Once I shook it off, I started running to keep my temperature regulating. I took off behind the house, running along the frosted path that eventually would go alongside the small river that cut erratically throughout the town.

As I kept along the path, I slowed down a little bit. I knew I was getting close to the river soon, and I didn't want to risk slipping and falling in. As I walked, I could hear the calm waters of the relatively tame river, the sounds automatically calming my nerves.

No longer worried about falling in, I began thinking again about how Sarge seemed to be completely unbothered by the cold weather, and how it made no sense whatsoever. He was the same type as me; by all accounts, he should have had as much of a problem with the cold as I did. I shook my head in annoyance that I just couldn't figure it out. I sighed a little, noticing that I was quite a bit far up the river by then.

Shivering a little, and noticing the sun beginning to set, I decided it would be a good idea to head back home so I wouldn't be outside in the dark. Trying to ignore the freezing, impending agony, I turned around and started quick-walking back towards the house.

As I tried hard not to lose my footing, I kept a close eye on the rushing river, making sure I wasn't close enough to fall in. For a while, the walk was nothing troubling, and it seemed that everything was absolutely normal. However, as I was getting close to the house, I caught sight of something unusual in the water out of the corner of my eye.

I stopped and looked directly into the river, only to discover an unclear bundle of red that seemed to be caught on the edge of the river near me. Curious, I cautiously stepped closer to the river to get a better view of the unknown object. My jaw dropped when I realized what it was; a Pokémon. An _unconscious_ Pokémon.

"What the—?!" I didn't even bother finishing that sentence. As fast as I could, I rushed to the edge of the river, reached as far in as I could, and grabbed the Pokémon by the scruff of its neck. Summoning panicked strength, I quickly yanked it out of the water and dragged it a good distance away from the riverbank. Up close, I could see that it was a Vulpix.

For a moment, my eyes widened in surprise. I had never seen a Vulpix before, since the only known one that lived anywhere near Emerald Town was in the capitol city, although this one didn't seem likely to be the same one. Its fur was all mussed and muddy, with several scratches and teeth marks, indicating that it had been in a tussle earlier.

I was snapped out of my thoughts when the Vulpix gave a weak cough and began to wake up. I sighed in relief at the fact that it was okay. It slowly opened its eyes, seemingly in a daze. It didn't take long for it to notice I was there.

"…Wh …Who are you…?" it asked in a hoarse, raspy, yet clearly feminine voice. "What happened…?"

"My name's Flint," I answered gently and quietly, careful not to scare her. It was pretty obvious that she had been through something awful. "I found you unconscious in the river."

"…Wh-where am I?" she asked nervously. Her bright, red eyes were filled with fear, practically tugging on my heart. In the back of my head, I considered the possibility that this could be a trick, but then quickly discarded it; she had been unconscious, and she was clearly injured and weak.

"Emerald Town," I answered as a thought occurred to me. What was I going to do with her? She clearly wasn't from anywhere nearby, and there wasn't time to take her to the hotel or the hospital. Giving it a little thought, I came to a decision. "Listen, my house isn't too far from here. I can tell you've been through a lot, so I'll tell you what; you can stay with me and my friends for the night, and tomorrow we can work out the rest. Alright?"

"Wh-why? Why help me?" she asked, clearly taken aback.

"I _can't_ just turn my back on someone in need," I answered, looking straight into her eyes to make sure she could see that I was being sincere. "Now, come on. Can you stand?"

"I-I think so," she hesitantly answered, carefully getting up on wobbly legs. Sensing that she was still very weak, I quickly went right to her side, allowing her to lean against me. It took me a second to get used to the feeling of her still freezing, wet fur, but I managed to keep my instincts in check out of my desire to help her.

"Alright, let's go," I said with a gentle smile, to which she responded with a weak smile of her own. Very carefully and very slowly, I helped her down the path that lead back to my home. For the most part, there was no talking, and I expect it was because of how tired she must've been. I was, of course, curious about what had happened to her and where she had come from, but I wasn't going to ask until after I knew she was going to be okay.

"Um, Flint, was it?" she spoke up after a while. She was quiet and soft-spoken. If she hadn't been standing right next to me, I doubt I would have heard her.

"Yes?" I whispered back.

"You're very kind. Thank you for all your help," she said, practically beaming at me with one of the sweetest smiles I had ever seen. Suddenly a little nervous, I tried to hide the blush creeping onto my face. _Wh-what the…? Why is this making me nervous?_

"Oh, don't even worry about it," I chuckled, trying to calm down before my heart sped up anymore. "Never got your name, by the way."

"Ah, that's right," she said. "My name is Flare."

"Flare," I repeated, getting a feel for the name. "That's a nice name. It suits you." Becoming nervous herself, Flare looked away from me and focused instead on the road in front of her. Feeling a little uncomfortable, I did the same, only to notice that we were quickly approaching my home. "Oh, look, we're here." Flare seemed to be observing the structure of the small shack rather curiously as we carefully made our way around to the front door.

"Rustic," she commented.

"Yeah, I know it's not much, but it's home," I replied. I wasn't surprised; after all, it was very modest compared to other homes in the village. As I pulled the door open, the first thing I saw was Sarge sitting next to Dusk with a large sack of food, his back facing the door. I was glad he had made it back before me. I would have been worried if he hadn't.

"Ah, good, there you are," Sarge began speaking, as he had heard the door open and probably caught my scent, getting up to turn around. "I was just about to go out looking for—" When he was finally facing me, he stopped mid-sentence the moment he saw Flare. "What in the name of Entei?!" He was understandably shocked by Flare's appearance.

"What the—" Dusk started, but didn't finish his sentence, equally surprised as he came to Sarge's side.

"Uh, yeah," was the only thing I could think of to say. As I tried to think of how to explain this to the guys, I carefully guided Flare over to my straw bed, finally allowing her to rest warmly. Thinking she might be hungry, and we might not have enough food for four Pokémon, I dug out the sack that Chuck had given to me earlier, and told Flare to help herself to whatever she wanted in there. She did so, seemingly giving the most attention to the Cheri and Pecha berries. With her occupied, I went back to explaining the situation to the guys. Once I finished telling them what had happened, we came to an agreement; Flare could stay the night, and in the morning, we would consult the A. A. for help. Surely, they would know what to do. Satisfied with the plan, Sarge gave me my share of the food he brought back and decided to turn in. Dusk did the same, having already eaten his share. I quickly finished mine, eager to go to sleep. With Flare already asleep in my bed, I carefully lay down between Dusk and Sarge, falling asleep with a thousand thoughts rushing through my mind.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Trauma**

 **A/N: Just a quick warning; this chapter contains elements that may be difficult to read about, such as PTSD flashbacks, and the reality of growing up. If either of those are a trigger for you, please read ahead with caution. Also, I apologize if I was not accurate in writing the PTSD flashback. I went off of what I knew and what I could guess. I sincerely apologize if my interpretation offends anyone. Enough talking; let's go.**

...

 **(Flare's POV)**

" _Hah… hah…" I panted shakily as I scrambled to keep running, hopelessly dashing forward in the darkness. I couldn't tell where I was; it was not a place I recognized. It was a place of deep, empty black, covered by a layer of surreal, thick haze. I was sure I had never been there before, but that didn't matter to me at the moment. All that mattered at the moment was escaping. A feeling of unshakable dread crawled down my spine as I heard someone coming closer._

" _ **Going somewhere, little one?**_ _" a menacing voice snarled, seeming to echo from everywhere. My heart raced as fast as my feet as I barely resisted the urge to look over my shoulder to see how far behind me my chaser truly was, knowing that if I did look back, I would slow down enough for him to catch me. And I_ _couldn't_ _let him catch me. I kept running, my fur standing on end as I sensed him drawing nearer. My growing panic made the breathing down my neck feel like a thousand tiny needles being pricked into my skin._

" _No… Please, go away… leave me alone…" I pleaded, my voice refusing to go louder than a whisper. The adrenaline was beginning to course through my system. I felt myself getting faster, my paws practically flying under me. The presence of danger I sensed behind me began to disappear, left behind in the misty blackness. For just a brief, breathtaking moment, I thought I was safe…_

… _before my relief just as quickly turned to terror as my legs buckled out underneath me. "Waaaah!" I yelped as I tumbled a little before hitting the ground. My vision went black, and I couldn't move a muscle. I tried to scream, to call out for help in the infinite darkness, but my voice was gone. Even my breath seemed to leave me, as if my chaser was trying to smother me on top of everything else._ No… no, it can't end here… not like this… _I thought to myself hopelessly, tears beginning to form in my eyes. I heard his footsteps approaching, felt his sinister presence drawing nearer. I shut my eyes._

" _ **Well… you**_ **are** _ **rather adorable,**_ _" he said in a sadistic and yet calm and charismatic voice. I shut my eyes tighter, but I could_ feel _his wide, malicious grin piercing right through me._ Please… please, no… _I silently begged, sniffling and shivering. I opened my mouth one more time in a desperate attempt to talk._

" _Please… Stop… Please…" was all I could say. "Please… Please don't…" I didn't call out for help. There was no point. Nobody would come. Nobody ever came._

" _ **Almost a shame that justice demands that you die,**_ _" he said with sardonic condolence. The tears fell from my eyes. I heard him running towards me. Instinctively, I opened my eyes and peered over my shoulder. I immediately regretted this. The last thing I saw was that pair of evil eyes with their bright, golden sclera and piercing red irises, and the horrifying bloodlust behind them._

…

 **Dog House, 8:30 A.M.**

"AAAAAAAAAAH!" I screamed as I practically leapt onto my feet, my heart beating so fast I thought it would burst. For a moment, I immediately wanted to start running again, but once I began to take in my surroundings, I realized that I was safe. I took a minute to catch my breath and swallow the lump in my throat as I tried to make sense of what had happened. _That… That was just a nightmare…_ I realized as my heartbeat began to slow back down to normal. I let out a huge sigh of relief, slumping down back into the soft, straw bed. _I'm safe now… He's not here… I'm safe… I'm safe…_ Tears began to leave my eyes uncontrollably, and I let out a soft, relieved laugh. I had to laugh off the fright. Sniffling a little, I wiped away my tears. Now breathing normally, I noticed a note placed in front of the bed. The note said this:

 _Dear Flare,_

 _My friends and I had to go to work, but we didn't want you to wake up and worry, and we also wanted to let you keep resting. So, just so you know where we are, we'll be at the Aid Aliment Center. If you want to know where that is, it's a huge dome on the other side of town from the house. Anyway, we'll probably be busy for at least half the day, so if you get bored, you might want to take a walk around the town if you're feeling up to it. Everyone who lives here is really nice and easy going, so there's nothing to worry about. Of course, some are a little high on energy. But still kind. Anyway, if there's an emergency, just come and find me. Otherwise, we'll be back around 6:00._

 _-Flint_

I smiled and calmed down some more at the memory of the kindness of that Growlithe. He didn't even know me, and yet he had gone out of his way to help me. I was truly touched. I hadn't been treated with such kindness since… my mother. My ears drooped and my mood dropped instantly upon thinking of my mother. _I miss her…_ I decided I could do without crying again, so I tried thinking about something else.

Looking at the note again, I made a mental note of where the three dogs were at the moment so I wouldn't forget. The Aid Aliment Center… I had heard of that before. If I remembered correctly, it was an organization that originated in Emerald and was devoted to helping Pokémon throughout the kingdom. I remembered my mom telling me that two of her old friends had founded it.

I realized that my thoughts had trailed right back to my mom again. Shaking my head, I decided it might be a good idea to take Flint's advice and explore the town a little. With a sigh, I tried out my still slightly sore paw. My legs were a little shaky, but worked just fine. My steps were a little wobbly, so I had to go slowly. I grew used to the slower pace by the time I reached the door, and when I opened it, I shivered at the cold.

Outside, the snowy hills and white trees glittered in what little sunlight was able to peak through the clouds. It was a beautiful sight that made me cheer up a little and helped me to ignore the cold a little bit. Closing the door behind me, I made my way slowly through the currently quiet residential area of the town, with the river gurgling happily in the distance.

…

"Oh, wow… This is so… I don't even have a word for it!" I said to myself in awe as I took in the plaza of the town. It was amazing, in a way I had never seen before. It was relatively small compared to a large city's plaza, but still big and bustling. But what amazed me was that despite the busy appearance of the place, Pokémon were talking and chatting and smiling with each other in a friendly fashion. No one was wary of another, and they all just carried on like old friends. It made me smile. I would have loved to see that in my hometown.

 _It would be that way, if not for your cowardice._

My smile fell and I could heavily feel the shift in my heartbeat when that dark thought entered my brain. I looked down at the ground in front of me. My front legs were knee-deep in the snow, even while I was moving. My ears drooped and I walked at an even slower pace as I seemed to tune out the world around me so I could better hear my guilty thoughts. Tears threatened to form in my eyes again. I was so focused on holding them back that I didn't even notice where I was going until I walked smack into something made of wood.

"Oof!" I exclaimed as I held my sore nose in one paw, and looked up to see what exactly I had walked into.

"You okay, sweetie?" a female voice asked. The wooden object I had walked into was a post holding up a blue tent, and behind a counter under the tent sat a concerned looking Nidorina with a small green cloth wrapped around the base of her right ear. She seemed to be several years older than me.

"Y-yeah," I stuttered, nodding in confirmation. I didn't mean to stutter. I wasn't intimidated by her. It was just a bad habit of mine when I talked to someone I didn't know. "I-I'm sorry, I should've been watching where I was going."

"Nothing to be sorry about, hon," she said with a smile, raising one of her paws in reassurance. I relaxed a little. She seemed nice. And I always functioned better with females. Not that I didn't like males, but girls typically get each other. "I'm Nina, by the way, keeper of the Nidorina Market."

"Nice to meet you, Nina. I'm Flare," I introduced myself, walking up to the counter to talk a little more clearly.

"Nice to meet you, hon," Nina smiled kindly, which helped to further warm my spirits. "I didn't think I'd seen you before. You new in town, sweetie?"

"I am," I said with a nod, unconsciously shivering in the cold.

"I thought so," Nina said. "I mean, a Vulpix isn't something you see around here often." Reflexively, I jumped a tiny bit at that sentence. I knew she hadn't meant to, but Nina had reminded me of my guilty thoughts. Nina seemed to notice my change in attitude and looked concerned. I looked away to at least try to hide the shamed look in my eyes. "Something wrong, honey?"

"N-no, nothing…" I mumbled unconvincingly, trying to mentally shake my current train of thought from my head. Nina clearly didn't buy it, but smiled kindly.

"Come on, now, hon," she said with a slight chuckle. "I wasn't born yesterday, you know." I looked down in shame, but Nina put a claw under my chin, gently tilting my head back up so that I had to look at her. "Tell you what. Business is pretty slow for me in the mornings, so why don't you come back, and we can talk a little? I could even get you a warm drink, if you'd like." I opened my mouth to say no, but then considered her offer for a second. Nina seemed to be very kind and understanding, and truth be told, I had a lot that I wanted to get off my chest. And a warm drink also sounded very nice at the moment.

"Okay," I said at last with a small but grateful smile. "That sounds nice."

"Alright, then. Come on back," Nina said as she opened the door on the counter to let me into the back, smiling as she did so. In the back room of the tent, there were many shelves lined with a wide array of merchandise. In the middle of the room was a little table covered by a blanket with cushions placed on the floor at its sides, to serve as seats. I sat down on one of them while Nina browsed through her own merchandise to find the drinks she was looking for.

"Uh, th-thanks for this, Nina," I thanked, stuttering again.

"Not a problem, hon," Nina assured without turning around. Standing tall on her hind legs, she traced a paw along a shelf of drinks. "Now, let's see…" Her paw stopped when it came to a white box and a green cylinder. "Tea or hot chocolate?"

"Uh…" I said, unable to think of what to say. I wanted to say hot chocolate—which was my very favorite—but I wondered how it would make me look. I was very close to becoming an adult, and to my paranoid mind, hot chocolate seemed like a choice that a young child would make. Although, I never liked tea all that much. It was fine, but I would usually only drink it if there was nothing else available. I had been lost in my decision making, so it took me a few moments to realize that Nina was looking at me with a knowing smile.

"Yeah, I don't care for tea either, baby," Nina said and took hold of the green cylinder. "Hot chocolate it is." I opened my mouth to try to protest, but my favorite drink at a time of depressing thoughts was very, very difficult to resist.

"Okay… Thank you…" I thanked quietly, pawing at the floor shyly. Nina smiled and prepared the drinks for both of us. Once they were ready, she asked if I could heat them up for us. Using a gentle Ember attack, I was able to warm them up fairly quickly. Though, I took a little longer to heat up my own, since I like my meals and drinks hotter than most Pokémon, being a Fire Type.

With our drinks ready, Nina handed me a glass of the hot chocolate and sat down at the table across from me with her own glass. Carefully holding the glass with my paw (which is a little challenging when you're a quadruped, but I always seem to manage), I took a sip of the glass's enticing, warm contents. The temperature of the beverage warmed my throat as it went down, and the sweet, creamy taste of the chocolate literally melted in my mouth. I couldn't fight a wide smile as I licked my lips.

"It's good, isn't it, sweetie?" Nina asked rhetorically after she tried her own.

"Mm-hmm," I agreed with a nod and a slightly sheepish smile. Internally, I was panicking that I seemed immature. However, Nina really didn't seem to mind.

"I'm glad," Nina said, her smile never leaving her face. I soon found myself returning her warm smile. She was so kind, it was amazingly easy to relax around her. She was very good company, and acted almost like a big sister. "So, anything you wanna talk about, sweetie?"

"Um…" I gulped nervously as I tensed up. I didn't want to talk about what was on my mind. I didn't like _thinking_ about what was on my mind. But I also knew that if I didn't deal with them, they would keep coming back to haunt me. "I… Well, I…" My throat tightened up as I desperately tried to get the words out. Nina's smile fell and her ears drooped in concern when she noticed my obvious hesitance.

"Listen, hon," she said, keeping her voice low in order to sound gentle. "If you're not ready to talk about it, don't talk about it. But if you need anything, I'm here to listen." The kind tone in her voice made me relax enough to put words together. I mean, I wasn't willing to share the full extent of my problems with someone I barely knew, but I did need to get a little bit of talking down from someone. _Anyone_ at this point.

"Well…" I said, trying to decide what to say. So many problems, so many troublesome thoughts racing around in my head. "…It's kind of a lot of things… But mainly… It's…" I took a deep breath to try and calm my screaming thoughts. How to explain? I didn't want to be too detailed, so I was trying very hard to think of how to explain as vaguely as I could. "It's mostly a lot changed about my life recently."

"Ahh, I see," Nina said with an understanding nod. "Well, I know a thing or two about that, sweetie."

"Do you know how to handle it?" I asked worriedly, giving her a desperate look to emphasize how much this was tearing me apart.

"Well, hon, that depends," Nina said, bringing a paw up to her chin to think. "Depends if it's a bad change, a weird change, or just a hard change."

"Um… all of the above…" I said, my voice falling quiet again.

"Ooh. That bad, sweetie?" Nina asked with a slight wince. I nodded sadly, taking another drink. "Well, that's gonna be tough to figure out, isn't it, hon?"

"Uh-huh," I nodded. "There's so much I have to be ready for. It's all so overwhelming…"

"I get it, baby. I get it," Nina said reassuringly. "It wouldn't have to do with becoming an adult, would it, sweetie?"

"It would," I admitted a bit nervously.

"Yeah, I thought you looked about that age," Nina said. I was a little surprised that she was able to tell my age so easily.

"How do you know that?" I asked, deciding to voice my curiosity. Nina let out a soft laugh.

"Well, hon, you remind me a lot of myself when I was about that age," Nina explained, a slightly sad look on her face as she pawed at her ear with the cloth wrapped around it. "I'm gonna take a guess—and correct me if I'm wrong—but I think your problems might also have to do with wanting to run away from the responsibility, am I right?"

"Huh?!" I practically jumped from surprise at her question, partly because she had been so blunt about asking it, and partly because she had hit the nail on the head. "H-h-h-how did you know that?!" Nina clicked her tongue and took a deep breath before she spoke again.

"'Cause the same thing happened to me, baby," she said eventually. My discomfort vanished and was replaced by a mix of surprise and curiosity.

"Really?" I asked, my attention completely captured.

"Really," Nina sighed. She looked off to the side for a moment, her eyes harboring a mix of emotions that I could identify as nostalgia and sadness. She closed her eyes for a second and sighed again. When she looked at me again, I could tell she was faking a smile. "Wanna hear a story, hon?"

"Um… I-I guess so," I answered, unsure of what exactly was happening, but not wanting to appear rude.

"Alright, then," Nina said with a nod, seemingly to herself. "What I'm about to tell you is what happened to me when I was your age and I made the choice to run away from my problems. And I hope, that once you hear this, you'll be able to make the right choice."

"Okay," I nodded seriously. I could tell just from her voice that whatever she was about to tell me was tough for her to talk about. "Go ahead." After finishing off her drink, Nina began to speak.

"Well, to start off," she began. "I better explain that this store wasn't always the Nidorina Market."

"No?" I tilted my head in curiosity, wondering where this could be going.

"Nope," Nina said as she shook her head. "My mom was actually the one who started it, and back when she ran it, it was known as the Nidoqueen Market."

"Oh, that's interesting," I said. I wondered what kind of Pokémon Nina's mom had been personality-wise as I tried to block out memories of my own mother.

"Yeah," Nina chuckled a little. It seemed she was enjoying the reminiscence so far. "And she was pretty proud of this place. Had every right to be, too. After all, she was one of the Yoake Nomads."

"Really?" I asked, my ears perking up. This was certainly news to me. The 'Yoake Nomads' was what everyone called the group of Pokémon who originally started the kingdom, but more into that later. "What was her name, if you don't mind me asking?" I really wanted to know now. Perhaps I had heard of her.

"I don't mind, sweetie," Nina laughed good-naturedly, probably at my cautious mannerism tendencies. I smiled and shrugged to indicate that that was just how I talked sometimes. "Does the name Maeve ring a bell?" My eyes widened at this name.

"Maeve? As in, 'Poison Archer' Maeve?" I asked, fully intrigued by this point. "You mean to tell me that _your mom_ was a member of the Royal Guard?" Nina laughed a bit at my reaction.

"Yep," she answered simply, gently poking me playfully on the nose. I took a moment to process this. The fact that Nina's mother had been the magnificent Poison Archer Maeve meant two things. First, that her father must have been the incredible Dual Swordsmon Ragnar. Second, that both of her parents were… gone. My face fell and my ears drooped as the second fact sank in.

"Oh…" I managed to get out. It was very difficult to think of anything else to say. "Oh, dear…"

"Yeah, I know, hon," Nina said as she smiled sadly, quickly catching on to what had crossed my mind. "But what can you do? As I was saying—and you may already know this—before my mom was in the Royal Guard, she ran this place." As a matter of fact, I _had_ known that already. If I remembered my mother's stories correctly, the market Maeve ran had been one of the things that had led to the founding of Emerald in the first place. It certainly was something to be quite proud of. The way my mother would speak of her, it seemed Maeve had loved her market, and had found her calling with it. It seemed so unlikely that anyone who had found a living they were so content with would suddenly change their livelihood so drastically. I knew the reason, though.

"Yes, I _did_ know," I said with a nod, trying to stop my train of thought before it ended up somewhere less than desirable. "And I've heard many great things about this place."

"That doesn't surprise me," Nina said amusedly, yet proudly. "Ma was pretty passionate about this place." 'Ma' was probably how Nina would address her mother directly. That made me smile, because it felt like she was looking back on fond memories rather than painful ones. "She was proud of this place, but pretty proud of us, too."

"Us?" I asked as I tilted my head curiously. That sad smile made its way back onto Nina's face.

"Me and my little sis, Nikki," Nina explained, absentmindedly placing a paw on her ear with the cloth. My ears drooped and my heart sank as I got a terrible feeling that I wouldn't like the direction in which this story was headed. Nina gave a shaky sigh before she spoke again. "Well, let me explain. See, growing up, Ma and Pa told us both a lotta stories about the Yoake Nomads, and coached us in different things. Pa would teach us how to fight, and Ma would teach us how to barter. Y'know, stuff that would help us run the shop or get us in the Royal Guard. 'Course, they didn't push us into doing either of those. They were fine with whatever we wanted to do as long as it helped other Pokémon. And so were we. We thought the things they were teaching us were fun, so it was between fighting or marketing. Of course, after the… Well, you know…" She trailed off there and grimaced a little, so I could tell she was referring to when her parents died. I couldn't blame her for her reaction to these thoughts. I myself involuntarily flinched at any thought referring to the Demonic Slaughter.

"Yeah?" I urged gently.

"Well, anyway," Nina continued, shaking her head a little. "Once we were by ourselves, it was a pretty tough road. With Ma gone, it was up to me to run the shop, being the older sister. Of course, with both of our parents gone, we both started to wonder if running the shop was really what we wanted." Nina looked down at the floor and clutched her forehead with her paw, beginning to laugh painfully. "And _that's_ when I got my _brilliant_ idea." She was obviously being sarcastic. I listened both curiously and hesitantly. After a few seconds, she looked back up at me. "I suggested that we go to one of the kingdom's bigger cities to see if we could find something else to do there."

"That doesn't sound so bad," I cut in confusedly. Nina let out a scoff.

"Yeah, except that I wanted to go there _by foot_ ," she elaborated. I fell silent with an internal gasp. "Yeah, I thought it would be fun to take a trip through the mountains to get to another city." Now, that probably still seems not so bad, so let me explain. The kingdom itself is on a frigid mountain, and the capital is at the peak. So, if you go there by foot, unless you have some sort of resistance against the cold, it's very difficult to get there. And the cold is only _one_ of the many dangers of the mountain. Howling winds, jagged cliffs, and hostile Pokémon taken into account, it's practically _impossible_ to travel from one city to another through the kingdom by foot unless you're really well prepared.

"O-oh, I dear…" I mouthed. I was practically speechless at this point.

"Mm-hmm," Nina nodded. "So, there is now a stupid girl in her late teens hiking through the literal death route, with her _kid sister._ "

"Oh, dear…" I said automatically. That had recently become my go-to answer when I had no idea what to say.

"Yep," Nina said after clicking her tongue. "You'd think that even the dumbest guy would have enough sense to _not_ do that, but since it was summer at the time, genius me thought it would be just fine. And, for a while, I seemed to be right. It was cold and slippery, but nothing really bad had happened to us. We actually managed to get halfway through the pass without any trouble." At this, Nina paused for a moment to take a short breath. "And that's when it happened."

"What happened?" I asked with a nervous gulp. It took a few seconds for Nina to respond, and I could just hear her laughing painfully under her breath.

"We got attacked," she said finally. I gasped silently. Nina placed a paw on her forehead as she kept quietly laughing. "Yep. The moment we thought we were safe, _that_ actually happened. I'm not sure, but thinking back on it, he was probably a runaway outlaw, or renegade soldier or something. In any case, he knew a thing or two about strategy. He went after Nikki first; the weaker one. I tried to fight him off, but I wasn't strong enough to so much as scratch him before he knocked me so hard, I slid off a cliff and blacked out."

"Oh, my goodness!" I gasped rather loudly, suddenly finding my voice again. Nina just shrugged nonchalantly.

"Yeah." She said, as if it was no big deal. "Apparently, some traveling folks found me passed out, and brought me back to Emerald. I woke up in the clinic… with _this_." She took a pause from the recollection to lift up the cloth from her ear, allowing me to see a rather large faded scar right at the base of her ear.

"Oh, no…" I croaked out, dangerously close to tears. "A-a-and… y-your sister…?" Nina sighed sadly.

"The first thing I asked the doc when I woke up was if my sis was alright," she continued, holding her ear with the scar. "She told me that I was found alone. I immediately tried to go back and find Nikki, but I didn't get far before someone from the A. A. Center told me they'd gone up the mountain to look for anyone else, but all they found was what was left of Nikki's favorite little green scarf." She tugged at the cloth again.

"N-n-no…" I sniffled through the icy cold tears escaping my eyes.

"Yes…" Nina sighed, hanging her head sadly. "I never stopped blaming myself for what happened, but I did learn something from it."

"W-what?" I asked as I desperately tried to wipe my tears away.

"I realized why I _really_ wanted to leave; to get away from the memories, and the new expectations and responsibilities I had to take on," Nina explained. My ears drooped again. "I should have dealt with it before, but instead I tried to run away from it, and I even dragged my little sis right into the middle of it. And she paid the price."

"…" I was so distraught and scared that I couldn't think of anything to say. Nina sighed again.

"Look, sweetie, the point is this," Nina began, making me face her again. "I know growing up is scary, and you sometimes want to run away, but the fact is, you can't. You can only get yourself as ready as you can for the future, and come to someone if you need to. Don't make the same mistakes I did. I came to terms with my mistakes, and had a lot of friends to help me move on. What I want to say is, no matter how hard it seems now, there's always gonna be a way to get through these things. You understand what I'm saying, hon?"

"I-I… guess so…" I nodded uncertainly. "Y-yeah, I got it."

"Good," Nina said as she smiled.

"Um… I-I should probably get going now," I said, feeling like I needed a while to process this.

"Alright, sweetie," Nina said with a nod. "I'll leave you to whatever you gotta do, but remember you can always come back and talk to me if you need anything. Got it, hon?"

"Yes, thank you, Nina," I said with quite a bit more confidence. "I needed this."

"No trouble at all, baby," Nina said reassuringly. "Come back anytime."

"I will sometime," I said with a smile. "Goodbye." With that, I made my way out of the Nidorina Market and continued my walk through the plaza. I shivered once I was back in the snow, but the hot chocolate had warmed me up quite a bit. I kept walking and looking at the different facilities until my paw started aching again.

Deciding it was a good time to take a break, I found a good place to rest for a bit. It was a cliff edge with a sturdy fence around the edge, built for Pokémon to safely view the mountain. And the view was spectacular, I have to say! Even though it was a relatively small hill, you could see very far away. There were rows of mountains, all covered in pure white snow. It was a beautiful enough sight to make even the bleak, depressing gray sky rather pretty as well.

As I took in the view, I began to think about what Nina had said. Even though it may not have seemed like it, I really did understand what she had been trying to tell me. In truth, perhaps I had already known that I needed to face what I had run away from.

 _She's right,_ I thought to myself. _They're all right. I need to face this. I need to be ready._

"Flare!" a sudden voice shouted my name, making me jump. Recovering from the shock, I looked to see who had called me and saw a familiar looking Growlithe bounding towards me excitedly.

"Oh, Flint!" I greeted as he skidded to a halt in front of me, kicking a bit of snow into my face.

"I was just coming to check on you," Flint said while panting as I brushed the snow off my face. "I didn't think you'd heal this quickly! This is great!"

"Well, my paw is still a little sore, but I do feel much better," I said with a smile.

"I'm so glad," Flint said as he finally caught his breath. He looked at me concernedly. "You know, I was really worried that you wouldn't make it through the night."

"But I did, thanks to you," I said. He took on a smile that was both embarrassed and flattered. "I didn't get the chance to properly thank you last night, Flint."

"Come on! You don't have to keep thanking me!" Flint laughed good-naturedly, though he did seem genuinely embarrassed.

"I'm sorry," I apologized with a bit of a laugh. "But you _did_ save my life. I can't thank you enough for that."

"Oh, well, I—" Flint started to say.

"FLINT!" a gruff voice barked suddenly. It startled me, but Flint didn't even jump. If anything, he looked a little annoyed.

"Oh, good…" Flint groaned, dragging his paw down his face. I instinctively went into panic mode and shrunk behind Flint when I saw an agitated looking Houndour practically stomping towards us.

"Flint!" the Houndour almost growled as he glared down at Flint. "What in the _world_ do you think you're doing, randomly running off in the middle of our job?! _How_ do you expect to be successful in this world when you…" He trailed off once he noticed me cowering behind Flint. His ears pressed back against his head and he suddenly looked very embarrassed. "Oh. I, um…" He cleared his throat awkwardly. "I… I see." He backed up a bit and changed his posture to look less threatening.

"Took you long enough to notice," Flint scoffed.

"I… I deeply apologize if I frightened you," the Houndour said with a slight bow. "I'm relieved to know that you are alright. We didn't have the chance to have a proper introduction last night. Your name is Flare, correct?" I nodded, calming down again. "A pleasure to meet you. I am Sarge."

"A pleasure to meet _you_ , Sarge," I said with a smile, hoping to reassure him that he didn't scare me too bad. He seemed to relax.

"Sarge is one of my best friends," Flint chimed in, seemingly amused by the scene that had just played out. "He might come off as a little scary, but he's a nice guy, and a great fighter. If you run into trouble, he's the guy to call."

"He certainly looks like it," I said, noticing how buff Sarge was. He seemed proud to receive such a compliment.

"And my other buddy's name is Dusk," Flint continued. "Dusk is so mischievous and competitive, he's borderline obnoxious. But, he's also got some skills, and he's loyal to the last."

"I agree on both counts," Sarge said with a nod. "His antics often go too far, but on the battleground, he is an incredible partner."

"And here he comes now," Flint said, looking off into the distance behind Sarge. "You know what they say; speak of the devil, and he will appear." Quite excited to meet another one of Flint's friends, stretched my neck to look behind Sarge. But once I did, I swear my heart skipped a beat.

Where I should have just seen a rather small Poochyena with a messy tuft on his head and a confident smirk, all that I could see was _him_. His sharpened claws, his razor teeth… and those, piercing, hateful, **evil eyes**. All of a sudden, I was right back in my nightmare, unable to sense or process anything except _him_. My heart started racing. My breath became panicked. **I lost all control.**

" **Stay away from me!"** I screamed in terror as I let loose a wild-shot Ember without even thinking. I heard a yell, and those surrounding me jumped back in surprise, allowing me enough room to turn around and bolt away from them. Away from _**him**_.

 _Run, run,_ _ **RUN!**_ My conscience was screaming at me. I ran faster than I ever thought I could. I couldn't even tell where I was going in my panicked state. All that I could think of was **escaping him**.

" _Flare!"_ I could vaguely hear someone calling me, but I had to ignore it. If I stopped running, he would catch me. If I stopped running, **he would** _ **kill**_ **me**.

"Run… Run… Run…" I said to myself. I so badly wanted to cry, but I couldn't. I was getting so cold, but it didn't matter. **I had to get away.**

" _Flare! FLARE!"_ the voice called again, louder this time. It sounded so familiar, tempting me to stop. But I didn't dare turn around.

"Keep running… _Keep running_ …" I said more firmly to myself. The adrenaline was starting to wear off, and if I lost my balance for even a second, I would be done for. _Why can't he just leave me alone?!_

" _ **FLARE!**_ _"_

" _Double Hi-Hi-Hit!"_

The last voice that spoke was an unfamiliar one, and just after it spoke, I found myself being forcefully stopped in my tracks, and suddenly pinned down and unable to move. I had no time to process what had happened before I was suddenly pulled into a warm, furry hug.

I looked up, and found myself gazing into the worried eyes of Flint. For the first time, I realized that his eyes almost looked like sparkling emeralds. They were such a deep green, and yet so bright. I soon calmed down and came back to reality as I felt my strength leaving me. I finally started crying, taking in the warmth I was getting from Flint as I slowly fell asleep.


End file.
